Oral

Dossier Anglais

Idea of progress

Problematic: Is the end of Apartheid a progress for South Africa's society ?

Plan : I) Mandela gives a hopeful vision of the future

II) sports events : a way to reunify the country

III) limits of progress : there's still a lack of equality in SA

Introduction :

From 1948 to 1991, the Apartheid was the policy in South Africa. It was established by the Afrikaaners, the Dutch who have settled there during this era. This policy was supposed to separate black and white people in their jobs and in their lives. It was abolished in 1991 and Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. He wanted to reunify the nation after all these years. So we are going to talk about the end of Apartheid and if this was a progress for South Africa. First we're going to speak about the hopeful vision of the future that Mandela gave to black people, then we'll see that sports events can be a way to reunify the country and finally we'll study the limits of the progress : the lack of equality that's still there in South Africa.

Development :

First of all, Nelson Mandela was elected president of SA on April 27th 1994 with the first democratic elections in the country, after spending 27 years in prison. On May 10th 1994, he delivered an inaugural speech in Pretoria. In this occasion, he wants to promote glory, hope, liberty, justice, peace and human dignity. He wants to let the dark period of the Apartheid behind and create a new nation who will be united. With this references to nature at lines 16 and 18 : « the national mood changes as the season changes », « when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom » he wants to show how his country is luxurious and how it can change : it's a period of rebirth for SA. He also insisted on the unity of the nation with his repetition of the pronoun « we » between lines 53 and 59. He wants to oppose his new policy to the racial divide during the Apartheid. For the new President this is victory for the country and that it's high time to build lasting peace, democracy and prosperty. He pledges to liberate people from oppression, poverty, discrimination and suffering as we see at line 40. He wishes that this experience never happen again and promises to implement peace and justice for all in the Rainbow nation (that is how the country is known as because of its population who is composed of people from everywhere in the world : Europeans, Africans but also Indians).

For him, living conditions could be better for all but only through unity of the nation : people have to work together as he said at line 58. Besides he would like to dedicate this day to heroes and heroins who sacrificed their lives for freedom like himself when he spent so much time in prison.

I think that we can connect this document with the notion « Idea of progress » because this speech tells about the things that Mandela wants to change in his country for a better life.

Then, sports events can be a way to reunify the country. The film « Invictus » by Clint Eastwood is an example which can illustrate this idea. The movie was made in 2009. The story tells about how rugby have reunified South Africa in the 90's. When Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman in the movie) became president after all these years in prison, the nation wasn't united yet. The new president attempted to reunify the divided nation using a non-usual way : rugby. The Springboks,

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